Perpetual Ruminations

Monday

Well, it's not so late today. It's about time for Rhonda to get home, but I think I should have enough time to get this written before she get's here.

I've been very late getting in here to write lately -- again. There just are not enough hours in a day for all the things I want to get done. It's kind of like my paycheck, there's never enough dollars in my check for all the things I want, either. Hmm, I wonder if there is some kind of a link. I bet there is... I bet if I had more money I would find I have more time, too. Of course, they are not related, but one does seem to tie in with the other.

At least, more money would mean more time to do more things. How is that? Because if I had more money I could afford to have more done and then I would not have to take time to do it myself. For instance, with more money, I could hire someone to work on my vehicles and then I would not need to take the time to do so much of the work myself. I could also hire more work done around the house, etc...

So, how do I go about increasing my income? A raise would be nice, but even if I did get one, it would not be a large increase, and would not make much of a difference. I could work more hours, but then I would have even less time; I did that all summer, and in the end, I really did not have much more money anyway. I spent more, since there was no time to cook, there was more expense for work, more gas consumed, and like I said, there wasn't any time to enjoy the little bit more I had.

No, there has got to be a better way. I know, I could write. Sure, that's it, I could write some stories and sell them. Hey, that would be awesome, getting paid to do something I enjoy doing. But, to sell stories, I have to learn to edit them and present them. That again takes time, and time is something I find I have little of. Like I said, they seem to be tied together.

I do want to take some classes, but that takes money and time, so I have to try and find an alternative approach. I think I did, too. It's right here on WdC, and it costs gift points instead of money, and the time is not so demanding. There will still be deadlines for work to be done, but I think I can handle the pace. It's the New Horizons Academy, and I'm interested in giving it a try. It can't hurt, right?

Well, I should go check on dinner, get ready for Rhonda to get home, and then relax with her over a nice meal. But first, I think I will swing over to the Academy and see when class sign up is.

Guess I won't be signing up for winter classes after all. The Academy is closed for the winter, and no classes until spring. I don't know why, but that's what the message was when I went to sign up; kind of bummed me out, I was pretty excited to take some winter classes. Oh well, not much that can be done about it. Hopefully I will have enough time in the spring to take the classes then.

On a brighter note -- much, much brighter, I received a gift tonight. I should start at the beginning, though. I have been using an upgraded membership that was set to expire tomorrow at noon. I had planned on upgrading to a Premium membership, and getting it for an entire year, earlier this month. Then, the vehicle broke down and there just wasn't any money to pay for a membership at all. In fact, it left me so broke, I couldn't pay for the phone/internet bill. I will be able to get it paid in time with my next check, but it's going to be close. So, it wasn't looking very good for me to get any membership paid, but I didn't want to lose my portfolio, so I purchased three months Upgraded membership to get me by while I get ahead a little. My plan was to keep going at my current membership level for another three months and then upgrade to Premium. I was a little disappointed, but what else could I do. Besides, I was thankful I could manage to get the three months paid in time.

So, I get a letter a little while ago that says I have been gifted six months at the Premium membership level. I was very surprised -- to the point of shock! This is one of the best gifts I have received this holiday season, and it is the most unexpected. I have to admit, I got teary-eyed when I seen this act of kindness. What a wonderful gift, and what a wonderful way to finish the year. Even more, what a spectacular way to start 2014!

2013 wasn't the best year for me and my wife. It wasn't real bad, but it was very trying. It started out bad, with an employee not showing up for work, no call in, nothing. Then another started needing more and more time off. By spring, she had quit, and shortly after, another walked out.  We were already short one person, we had just started double coverage and were trying to get someone hired, when she walked. I know she expected me to plead for her not to leave, but she was already working on getting herself fired. In fact, I should have fired her that day, but instead I gave her another warning, and she decided she wanted to quit instead. Of course, like I said, she expected me to chase after her and plead, but that did not happen.

Then, the guy that worked weekends had to resign, do to health reasons. I had just hired another person when he found out he had cancer and would not be able to work. Then, another person decided not to do their job and had to be removed because of security risks. I did get another person hired shortly after this, so we ended up with four people to do what we should have had six people doing. On top of that, one of these new people could only work very limited days and hours, the other only wanted to work part-time. I ended up working seven days a week all spring, summer, and into the early fall. Then we finally got another person hired, but one of the other's resigned right when the double coverage ended. We did finish the fall with just enough people so Rhonda and I could get a couple of days off each week, and even on the same days.

But that was too good to last, and another person resigned, leaving us short again. We are still getting a couple of days off each week, but not the same days. I get Monday and Tuesday, my wife gets Wednesday and Thursday. Hopefully we get someone hired soon so we can enjoy a couple of days off each week together. On top of work problems, the original crew was constantly causing problems, so the stress was high, sleep was scares, and the weather wouldn't even cooperate. Then, there were problems with vehicles, an aged pet began to fade quickly, and I had no time to do anything, working seven days a week. That's the way the year went; it seemed to work constantly against us, and anything we planned, just wouldn't work out.

But, I'm happy to say that for a tough year, it did not defeat us. It was stressful, yes, and there were problems, but we confronted them and persevered -- together. Now, as the year winds down, we find ourselves missing a beloved pet, but we also have the company of a new, and very wonderful pet. We weren't able to make the trip we had planned for Christmas, but we enjoyed a very wonderful day at home. The vehicle problems that prevented us from traveling worked out, Rhonda found me a used part, and the local mechanic installed it the same afternoon I found the part. It took more than he expected, and he had to work an hour after closing to get the job done, but he did it and did not even charge any extra. A wonderful gift from him, for no reason other than to be kind. Now, I receive this Premium membership and see that this year is going out very nicely, and it raises my hopes that 2014 is going to be a much better year~